The One Thing You Don't Know
by Zodivafiu
Summary: Shikatema Shikaku tries to show Shikamaru his true feelings. Out of everything he knows, the one thing he doesn't know are his own feelings. Rated cause Im paranoid... Changed Title; Who Cares What They Think, Not Like the Movies R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Don't Get Defensive

**A/N: Reviews greatly appreciated! If people like this enough and it doesn't completely fail I'll post the next chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. If I did, Shikamaru and Temari would have been officially together loooong ago. ;)**

**BY THE WAY: IF YOU ARE READING THIS CHAPTER, PLEASE PLEASE CONTINUE ON TO CHAPTER 2! ITS MUCH BETTER THAN THIS ONE :O **

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I sat across from her, fidgeting nervously as I waited for news on Chouji. Temari was waiting with me…for some odd reason… She crossed her legs and I had to resist the urge to look at her tanned, muscular legs. Ahem, anyway. She seemed to be scrutinizing me, narrowing her eyes a bit and looking at me. Finally, I couldn't stand it.

"What?" I asked.

She seemed a bit taken aback, but who is she to stare? She shrugged and just said, "I dunno…why are you like that? Different, I mean."

I didn't really know what to say to this so I just asked her what she meant by that.

"Well, you're different from a lot of other guys. You don't seem to care what people think about you. Why is that? Like, not even in the slightest."

I sighed and said, "What's it matter? People will think what they'll think. Why do you care?"

"I dunno…I just randomly thought about it."

"Well what about you?"

"Huh?"

"You don't seem to care what you're seen as."

"I dun-"

"You don't seem to know a lot of things."

She narrowed her eyes at this, and continued with what she was saying. "I dunno because like you said, it doesn't matter. And anyway, it's not like I can change their minds, can I?"

She was smart. It's true. You can't change people's minds, only stupid people actually try. Tch. As I was thinking about this, I heard her stand up and looked up. She was picking up her fan and fastening it to her back.

"I better get going. My brothers said not to be too long."

For some odd reason, I felt a twinge of sadness. I liked having her here, talking to her. But it's not like I was actually going to tell anyone this. Let alone her. I just leaned my head against the wall and said, "Sure…" trying to sound nonchalant about it.

She walked down the hall and turned at the exit. I waited for about maybe a whole of 5 seconds before my dad bonked me on the head, zapping me out of a nice nap-to-be. "What?" I cried.

He sat down next to me and barked, "What's wrong with you? Have I taught you nothing?"

"Besides learning to tend for deer? Yeah, pretty much." This earned me another bonk on the head. I felt the beginnings of a lecture coming in and started to prepare myself.

"First you can barely lead a team to success. Second, you just let a girl like that walk out."

"…"

"Don't give me that blank stare. Only I can do that."

"What do you mean, 'a girl like that'?"

"Don't even try to lie to me about it. I know you like her. What's more, you didn't even go after her or protest her leaving. You just let it go. Hn." He scoffed and put his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall.

"Tch, yeah right. Me? Like her? You're crazy. You must really be getting old Dad." Another bonk.

My dad just ignored what I said and stood up again. He started walking out, but before he turned out the exit, he said over his shoulder, "I know what I know. You don't have to get defensive. I know what I saw." And walked out.

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**AGAIN: GO ON TO CHAPTER 2! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2: If You Didn't Like Her

**A/N: I know, I know! It's been a looooong time since I've updated this story. DX But this leads to that, and that leads to this, and I never found the time... *cough*I'mjustlazy*cough* anyway.. heh heh... ^.^' Well anyway, I hope you like this chapter :) Remember! Read and Review! That's what motivates me! Oh yeah, and favorite/follow. Greatly appreciated. Shanks. :D**

**Disclaimer: *sigh...* I don't...own Naruto... *sob sob* ...or any of the characters... *she says sadly* ...poop. :(**

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Soon after Shizune arrived with the news that Chouji would be alright, she told me she'd let me know when he could have visitors. I left the hospital, thinking about what my dad said.

…A girl like that? _That?_ What exactly does "that" mean…? The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that he was right; she wasn't exactly like other girls. She was the toughest, that's for sure. She wasn't into all of that girly stuff, either, like Ino or Sakura. Don't get me wrong, I'm good friends with them, but once they start talking about girl stuff, I'm lost. I guess growing up without a mom, or "womanly figure" in her life, that stuff wasn't very prominent in her life. But she's so weird, sometimes…! I mean, really, I feel like she's bipolar or something… (PMS? I considered that…) She was completely ruthless to Tenten during the preliminaries a long time ago during that first Chuunin Exam. And, not to mention today! She went all killing machine on that Sound girl. But then today in the hospital… she waited with me, didn't make fun of me, or call me a crybaby, and wasn't even really mean. I mean seriously, I CRIED in front of her! And what did I hear from her? Nothing. Nope. None. I mean seriously, what's up with that? Tch, women. Must they be so difficult?

Hn… why am I thinking so much about this? It's not like I actually _like _her! What was my dad thinking? Attempting to clear out my thoughts, I took the familiar turns through the village that would lead me to my cloud watching hill. It was humid, so the grass was sticky. As I lay down, I felt the familiar, prickly feeling of grass. I closed my eyes and put my hands underneath my head, thinking I could maybe squish in a nap before someone comes calling for me…

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Sleep decided to skip out on me this afternoon. Sighing, I opened my eyes. Maybe if I couldn't take a nap I'd be able to watch some clouds, just let my mind go blank for a while.

Unfortunately, again, the sky was clear as day. That's right. Not a single cloud in sight. Of course. Agh… this was not my day… My dad's thoughts decided to reemerge from where I attempted to shove them away, and started swirling around in my brain. My eyes closed as I thought back to what he said.

"_..let a girl like that walk out…a girl like that…a girl like that…I know what I know. You don't have to get defensive. I know what I saw…" _

But what was it? What _did_ he see? I couldn't stand it anymore. I stood up, since the sky decided to be uncooperative with me today, and decided to visit my dad. I sighed, and walked down the little hill towards the greenhouses, which is where I guessed my dad would be, collecting plants and stuff for medicine. I opened the door and was greeted by a huge gust of hot, humid air. But, that's all that greeted me. My dad wasn't here. I signed again, and considered trying to take a nap again, considering all the trouble I was going through to find my pain-in-the-ass dad. I stood there for a second, thinking about what to do. Even just thinking about what I should do was a pain. Ugh… I decided to go look for my dad anyway, as there aren't many possible places he could be.

I checked home, the deer fields, and all the places he liked to hang around. No one had seen him. Geez, this was becoming a pain in the neck. The sun was starting to get lower, so I figured I might as well go home before my mom starts calling for me. As I took the familiar steps towards home, I tried not to think about what he had said, and just let my mind float.

After dinner, I find my dad sitting on the ground outside, looking at the stars. I slide the door open and go out to join him, sitting myself down. "Hey, Dad…" I start to say, but he cuts me off.

"Shikamaru, are you here to ask about what I told you earlier?" Straight and to the point, as always.

"Well…yeah…what did you mean when you said 'I know what I know' and all that stuff..?"

"I'm your father, Shikamaru. I know you very well. Which means, I know how you feel about people by looking how you act around them. Today…you acted different around that Sand girl than around any other girl. I know you like her."

"Dad, I do-" I started to say, when again, he cut me off.

"Shikamaru! Don't lie to me. If you didn't like her, would you have spent all of today looking for me, asking me about this? If you didn't like her, you wouldn't have cared about what I said. If you didn't like her, you wouldn't have come looking for me, asking me what I meant. If you didn't like her, you wouldn't have come out here and sat here next to me having this conversation!"

I had no response to what he said. I could feel my mouth hanging open, as I stared at him. He just sat there, sighing after getting worked up by his mini-speech. I closed my mouth and looked down at the grass. We sat there like that, for several minutes, just the two of us, sitting in silence. He sat looking up at the sky, and I sat looking down at the ground. I heard movement beside me, and looked up to see him standing up and going inside. He said one last thing before going in.

"If you didn't like her, you would've said something in defense to what I just said."

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**A/N: Well...? You likeeeee? :D Okay review (and rate!) and tell me what you think I should put in coming chapters...characters you'd like to see...stuff you'd like to happen.. yadda yadda yadda... I consider all of these things into my writing! You peoples are what motivate me to continue! *heroic stance***


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